Dr Annuar: My duty to strengthen PBB and GPS, not declare war with others

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(Front, from second right) Dr Soon, Lau and Dr Annuar cut cakes to officiate at the pre-Chinese New Year gathering.

SIBU: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president Dr Annuar Rapaee has denied ever declaring ‘war’ against Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) over the Bawang Assan state seat.

He said as a vice president of the party and also Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Sibu zone head, it was his responsibility to make sure GPS component parties remain united here, and not to pick fights with
others.

“I always respect an elderly person and senior politicians. I never declared war with anybody.

“I am very humble about this because we should use politics as a platform to work together for the benefit of the people. We should not declare war among ourselves,” he said at a pre-Chinese New Year celebration organised by Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Nangka branch, here on Sunday.

Dr Annuar, who is Nangka assemblyman, was responding to comments made by PSB president and Bawang Assan assemblyman Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who on Jan 16 said PSB will be looking to take on PBB in its traditional seats in the next state election.

Wong said this was because PBB had ‘declared war’ on him by announcing that it was aiming to field its candidate in Bawang Assan.

To this, Dr Annuar said his previous remarks about strengthening PBB may have been misinterpreted by certain quarters.

“Is it wrong for me to strengthen PBB Nangka in Dudong, Bawang Assan and Bukit Assek state constituencies? No. It is my responsibility to strengthen PBB because when PBB is strong, we can be united with SUPP, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

“I’m sure we can win the five seats in Sibu in the next election. I am sorry if I have been misinterpreted as declaring war,” he explained.

Dr Annuar, who is Assistant Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research, pointed out that in past elections, seats were lost in Sibu due to infighting and squabbling and not because the opposition was strong.

“I think this is the best time for us to win all the seats in Sibu. We must help each other and work together for the people of Sibu in the next election.

“Enough of disunity and quarrelling with each other. Don’t give a chance to those who want to disunite us,” he added.

He also assured that he would give his full support to any candidate fielded by SUPP in Sibu in the next election.

Dr Annuar was the guest of honour at Sunday’s event, which was also attended by Temenggong Dato Vincent Lau and SUPP Dudong advisor Datuk Dr Soon Choon Teck.

It was previously reported that some 1,200 Iban voters from Bawang Assan had called for the seat to be given to PBB in the next state polls, as they wanted to be represented by an Iban.

They voiced this out during the PBB Bawang Assan ‘Solidarity Night’ event, held here on Dec 21.

Dr Annuar, who represented PBB deputy president Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah at the gathering, told those present that he would convey the message to the party’s top leadership.